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Meeting Cyrus
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A. V. Karlet
Adrian V. Karlet carefully stepped through the entrance to the cave feeling a little confused. While he'd established empathic links with his other adopted companions, this was the first time a link had established itself without him knowing the source. He could feel the emotion coming from within this cave and he wandered down the tunnel in search of it. He thought it strange that it was fairly warm inside for such a chilly spring day. He also couldn't help but notice how smooth the walls seemed to be. It was unnatural.
He finally made it to the enormous cavern at the other end of the tunnel and looked around in wonder. The lake caught his eye and he stepped towards it, careful not to slip in the mud. He peered into the water and admired the beauty below the surface. Wish I had my fishing rod with me, he mused, watching a few shiny creatures swim by.
The red-head looked up, feeling a strong emotional tug from somewhere nearby. There were a few other people, he noticed, milling about. It was then that he saw the nest and he made his way towards it. He smiled as he gazed at the eggs resting in it. One wiggled emphatically and the tug grew stronger. Adrian held his hand out and touched it, confirming to himself that this was the source of the bond. "Do I belong to you, little one?" he asked.
Adrian watched out of the corner of his eye and listened as one person -- with an odd looking creature beside her -- coached another person who had come to see one of these eggs. He blinked at the creature. So, this is what you'll become when you grow up? he wondered, petting the egg under his hand. He felt a wave of excitement wash through the link, and he smiled, carefully picking the egg up out of the nest with both hands.
It was a very pretty egg, he decided as he turned it this way and that in the light. The wings were strange; one was bat-like while the other had feathers. He shrugged it off, pulling the egg closer to his chest.
"!! heart "
Adrian smiled. "You remind me of... one of my other companions," he said to the egg, knealing so that he could sit on the floor of the cave. "He's an egg, right now, just like you. And bursts of emotion let me know how he feels.
"?"
"You'll get to meet him one day," Adrian continued, running his hands over the shell and fingering the wings, "but I don't think I'm supposed to take you home with me, today. I can bring him here... I think. As long as no one else minds." Quicksilver the Archangel
After taking as much comfort from Quick as he could, Jarlath hopped out of his Guardian's arms. He saw another guardian, a male, bonding with his egg. Jarlath had never, to his knowledge, met a male guardian... and so with great curiousity he approached. A. V. Karlet
Adrian was aware he was being watched, so he turned his head slowly, finally locking eyes with the creature he'd seen earlier. He wasn't quite sure how to react in this situation, but he remained calm, continuing to pet his egg. "Hello," he said quietly. Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath kept his cool, which was really no great surprise, his mind voice colored by tan politeness. "Hello. I take it you're one of the new guardians, by the way you hold that egg. My name is Jarlath." A. V. Karlet
The red-head was only phased for a moment at the color and voice; he figured he'd better get used to this quickly if all these creatures communicated this way. "I suppose I am," Adrian replied, looking down at the egg briefly, "it called me here. My name's Adrian. It's a pleasure to meet you." He paused, trying to think of a polite way to phrase his next question, and failing. "If you don't mind my asking... what are you?" Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath's aura faded back to the light blue he used to cover his true emotions; after all, he didn't want to embarass the new Guardian any further. "I am myself. If you mean more specifically, I am a Chimeara... the type of creature your egg will eventually grow to be." A. V. Karlet
The corner's of Adrian's mouth twitched at the first response; afterall, his question hadn't been very specific. "A Chimaera..." he wondered aloud, glancing back down at the egg in his hands. It merely wiggled in response. There were some emotions floating around, but Adrian couldn't focus on each of them invidiually; it was like it didn't know quite what to feel at the moment.
"Are there a lot of Chimaera here?" Adrian asked. "Do you have to stay here in this cave?" Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath gave a flick of his snake tail. "I honestly don't know. I've only ever met 3 other Chimeara, but I know more exist then those. I come back and forth between the caverns with Quick, my guardian. She could probably anwser more of your questions than I." A. V. Karlet
Adrian glanced up at the woman he'd seen with Jarlath, then returned his gaze to the Chimaera. "That's okay," he smiled, "I don't want to interrupt. You've been quite helpful."
"..." the egg nudged its guardian impatiently.
"What?" Adrian looked down at it. "What are you waiting for?" He had a thought and turned back to Jarlath, "How do you tell... well, maybe you don't know, but... how do you tell if a Chimaera will be a boy or a girl?"
He thought he heard something akin to an amused snort coming from the egg, but ignored it for the moment. Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath could not hold back the flash of teal amusment that colored his aura, as he said, "I... do not believe there has ever been a female Chimeara. I've certainly never seen one." A. V. Karlet
Adrian blinked, the wheels in his head turning. Realization dawned on him as he said, "Oooh..." He looked down at the egg again, tracing a finger over it. "That'll be another thing you'll have in common with your 'brother'... his species is only male, too."
"? ... !" the egg nudged him again.
"What~?" Adrian said with a tinge of exasperation. He tried to focus on the emotions again to decipher what it was the Chimaera wanted. "... You want a name, don't you?" he finally said.
"!!!"
The red-head smirked, "Well, why didn't you say so?" This joke earned him another hard bump to the chest. "I was only kidding..." Adrian paused a moment to listen to one of the other new guardians with her egg. It was a lovely lullaby, and he wondered, if he learned it, if he would be able to sing it well enough to do it justice. Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath cocked his head, "What are you going to name him, Adrian?" A. V. Karlet
"Hrmm," Adrian picked up the egg out of his lap and held it at about eye-level, turning it this way and that, again. The color reminded him of a sunset, when the sky was painted with orange and rosy hues. "He's probably never felt the sun, if he's never left this cave," he thought aloud. But there was a warmth that Adrian could feel through the bond, as well as an eagerness to move and explore. The wings flapped impatiently, causing Adrian to smile. "How's 'Cyrus' for a name? It means 'sun.' You seem like a sunny sort of creature," he said to the egg.
The wings rustled tenatively, as if the egg were thinking. After a moment, it sent Adrian a wave of positive emotions, accepting the new name as its identity.
"Glad you approve," Adrian chuckled, setting the egg back in his lap. "So... now that that's out of the way... what should we do next?" This was half-directed at Jarlath, since Adrian had no idea what taking care of a Chimaera egg involved. Quicksilver the Archangel
Jarlath? Jarlath, where have you gotten to?
Hearing his Guardian's mind voice, Jarlath responded. Over by the male Guardian. Look to your left. Would you mind terribly coming to help? He seems to have lots of questions.
Oh, not all! I think Rown and her Chimeara are bonding quite nicely. Half a moment.
Jarlath looked up at Adrian, "Cyrus sounds like a nice name to me. Quick's on her way to help answer your questions."
"Wrong, Jarlath~ Quick is here!" The female guardian laughed, scooping her Chimeara up into her arms before smiling at Adrian. "Hello. I'm Quick. Jarlath tells me you're one of the new guardians?" A. V. Karlet
"Eh? Oh, hello," Adrian glanced up at Jarlath's guardian. "Yes, I believe I am. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'd get up to greet you more formally, but I think my legs are stuck in this position." He winced as he stretched his legs out in front of him, trying to work out the pins and needles.
"?" Cyrus was curious as to why his new guardian was in pain, but Adrian didn't seem overly alarmed. And since Adrian wasn't alarmed, Cyrus decided it wasn't that big a deal and settled into his guardian's arms. Quicksilver the Archangel
Quick grinned. "No need to stand on my account, I assure you." She knelt down to better see the male guardian's egg, unable to resist giving a small squeal of delight. "Look at your little guy! So precious~"
"His name is Cyrus, Quick." Jarlath told her, struggling until he made his way back to the ground. "Do you mind if I go off flying for a bit? I know you and Adrian have much to talk about."
"No, no. Go right ahead and practice. Give me a mental call should you need anything, okay?"
Jarlath nodded before taking off into the air, going to look for a more suitable spot.
Quick's smile became a bit sad as she returned her gaze to Adrian. "I keep forgetting my little Jarlath is so big now. They grow up so fast~" As soon as the dampened emotion appeared, however, it was gone again, and she spoke cheerfully. "I'm sure you've got -tons- of questions about Cyrus. You can ask me, if you like; I'll tell you anything that I know." A. V. Karlet
Adrian watched as Jarlath took off before turning to Quick. He noticed the slight sadness in her smile, but didn't say anything, offering a soft smile in return. "Well... I was wondering, how long should I wait until he can come home with me?" he asked, "And... is there anything I should be doing in the meantime?"
The red-head was often prone to distraction, and he turned his head to look at some of the other guardians. Another woman had come in and was picking her egg out of the nest. It was then that he realized that he hadn't seen a single man in the cave at all. "And are all the guardians supposed to be women? Because, if so, we've got a small problem here," he added with a slight squawk.
Cyrus off a wave of amusement. This new guardian of his sure was silly... Quicksilver the Archangel
Quick couldn't help but giggle at Adrian. "It's perfectly acceptable as far as I know to have male Guardians, especially since the Chimeara is the one that chooses it's own guardian. Now... as for all the rest. Your egg has to stay here until it's hatched. I'm not totally sure why... but I know it's -very- dangerous to take it out."
The girl paused for a breath, twirling a strand of her long purple hair before speaking again. "You should begin learning to communicate with him, of course. I remember when Jarlath was an egg, he loved being held and stroked. I let Jarlath listen to music and read to him and such, but... I don't know if that actually make a difference or not. You should know pretty quickly though if little Cyrus likes it or not."
She looked up at the newcomer, and gave a squeal of delight as she recognized the blue haired girl, "AQUA-CHAN!"
Jarlath fluttered to the top of a not too high cliff, preparing for flight. It didn't really bother him that he as alone or that no one was watching; afterall, spectators were not required for flying. A. V. Karlet
"Oh, good," Adrian said, a bit relieved, "just wanted to make sure." He was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to take Cyrus home yet, but figured it had something to do with the cave itself. He'd realized, at some point, that the cave was humming with magic. Had he been training like his friend had been bugging him to, he would've picked it up the moment he realized how unnatural the tunnel and the inner chamber was.
He sat there for a few moments in thought while Quick was distracted by the other new guardian. He decided that it wasn't too far to walk home and back in one day. He could run home and bring things -- books, his CD player, maybe even his other companions -- back to the cave to introduce to Cyrus. But then he figured that he needed to take things a little bit at a time, so as not to completely overwhelm the young Chimaera.
Cyrus watched Adrian's flickering mental images of the outside world with interest, wishing his guardian wasn't going through them so fast. He only caught glimpses of things -- things he couldn't yet identify. Sarabi
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[RP Event]</center>
The cave had stilled, as it always did when the Magick had peaked. This time however, the humans felt it too. And everywhere, within the caverns and out, they began to feel tired. Their unique human energy drifted out of them, fusing with the gathering Magick and saturating the caves.
The Chimaera began to change, but this was a change unlike any other. They felt their bestial selves retreating, making way for a new kind of energy that morphed their forms in strange ways....
Elsewhere, eggs began to hatch, and a single infant grew stronger, making his way to adolescence without the company of broodmates. The caverns soon filled with the squeakings of newly born Chimaera, as they called out pitifully to their guardians.
[]Guardians, please refer to the "Life Stages" post for further information. Also note that the first two paragraphs refer only to the guardians of previously "adult" Chimaera. Other guardians will not be affected by the Magick.A. V. Karlet
As Adrian sat there, pondering what he should do next, he became aware of the magick in the cave changing around him. He looked around the cavern, listening to the nearby Chimaera. It was then that he became aware of a cracking comeing from his egg.
"?!!" Cyrus struggled within his shell, pushing it apart, feeling like he'd become too big for it. It was uncomforable, and he found a way to voice this discomfort in the form of a small, high-pitched yowl.
The red-head watched anxiously, unsure of what to do. He's hatching already?! He reached out to help remove the shell, then thought better of it, holding the egg with two hands as Cyrus broke it apart a little bit at a time. This is something he has to do on his own... like a butterfly from a cocoon... it will make him stronger. "Come on, babe," he encouraged the Chimaera, sending comforting thoughts towards him.
Cyrus let out more sounds, testing his vocal chords even as he broke free from the egg, the shell falling away in his guardian's hands. He tried to open his eyes, but something sticky covered them.
Adrian set the pieces of shell off to the side, then brushed his hand over Cyrus' face and body, getting rid of the egg-goo that the Chimaera was covered in. He smiled as Cyrus finally blinked up at him. "Hello, little one."
The Chimaera cooed at him, before noticing a feeling he'd never felt before. He projected it at Adrian, accompanying it with more sounds.
"Aww, you're hungry," Adrian said, picking him up and setting him against his shoulder. "Guess I'll have to go home, afterall..." He paused, remembering what Quick had said. "Your egg has to stay here until it's hatched." "Well, in that case... I guess we'll have to go home."
Cyrus caught a glimpse of a large stone structure that Adrian had thought of earlier. He'd said that word before, a couple of times, when he was thinking leaving the cave and going to get "things." He projected the image back at Adrian, trying to mimic the word he'd heard, "Ho...me..."
Adrian inwardly cheered, making sure Cyrus felt how happy he was, "Yes, home..."
He gathered the egg shell pieces in one hand and managed to make it to his feet without falling over. He glanced over at Quick and then up at Jarlath, smiling. As usual, he didn't want to interrupt whatever it was they were doing, but he was very thankful for their help. He would have to invite them to come visit sometime.
He made his way around the lake, heading towards the tunnel. As he made it to the cave's entrance, he discovered that it had begun to rain outside. "'Tch. Well, that just won't do," he said, tucking Cyrus inside the flap of his jacket and zipping it up, keeping the Chimaera warm and dry. Cyrus gave a curious sound, wondering what this was all about. "It'll be okay," his guardian said, patting him from outside the jacket. "You're safe in there."
Adrian stepped outside the cave and ran home with his new companion, dodging puddles along the way.
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